In Pakistan, government considers constitutional amendment for judicial nomination process

A meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) rules-making committee remained inconclusive on Friday when Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar revealed that the federal government was considering bringing constitutional amendments to yet again change the present structure of elevating superior court judges. Presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the meeting of the 29-member committee has to be postponed consequently on the consideration that any deliberations will become futile if parliament amends Article 175A of the Constitution to modify the procedure of appointments of judges in the superior judiciary. [ . . . ] An informed source told Dawn that the idea of amending the elevation process was made in view of the long-standing demand by the bar councils that since the members of the JCP rules committee were equal, clear criteria should be evolved suggesting how to elevate judges to the high court and top court. Thus, it is necessary to make nomination and selection process transparent by diluting the power of CJP and the respective chief justices of the high courts. The bar members believe that Article 175A (2) of the Constitution, though it recognises the CJP as chairman of JCP, does not empower him to nominate alone. Therefore, nowhere has it been written that the commission may consider only those nominees forwarded by the CJP or the chief justices of the high courts. The members of the bar councils have been raising their voices, stating that the practice of using discretionary and absolute powers by the CJP or respective high court chief justices in initiating nominations without consulting other members of the JCP should be discouraged.
Read the full article here: Dawn